Deliverability is whether your emails actually reach the inbox. You can write the best campaign of the year, but if it lands in spam, nobody reads it. The good news: most of it comes down to a few setup steps and some good sending habits.
1. Authenticate your sending domain
Inbox providers want proof that you're allowed to send email from your domain. That proof is three records in your domain's DNS settings:
- SPF lists the services allowed to send email for your domain.
- DKIM adds a digital signature showing the email really came from you and wasn't changed on the way.
- DMARC tells inboxes what to do with messages that fail those checks, and sends you reports about them.
Your email platform walks you through adding them — usually a few lines copied into your domain settings. And always send from your own domain (hello@yourstore.com), never from a free address like Gmail.
2. Know the rules Gmail and Yahoo enforce
Since February 2024, Google and Yahoo have required bulk senders — Google counts anyone sending 5,000 or more messages a day to Gmail addresses — to:
- authenticate with SPF and DKIM, and publish a DMARC record;
- offer one-click unsubscribe, and honour unsubscribes within two days;
- keep spam complaints low: Google asks senders to stay below 0.3%, and recommends under 0.1%.
Microsoft has since introduced similar requirements for Outlook addresses. Even if your store sends far less than that, meeting the same standards is the surest way to stay in the inbox.
3. Only email people who asked
Bought or scraped lists are full of old addresses and spam traps, and the people on them never asked to hear from you — so they complain. Never use one. Grow your list the slow, reliable way instead (see how to grow your email list).
4. Send consistently, and ramp up gradually
Inbox providers judge you by your history. A steady schedule builds trust; going quiet for months and then emailing everyone at once looks like spam. If you're moving to a new platform or sending domain, start with your most engaged subscribers and build up volume over a few weeks.
5. Stop emailing people who've stopped reading
Subscribers who haven't clicked or bought in months drag your engagement down and are more likely to mark you as spam. Send them a short win-back sequence, and if they still don't respond, stop emailing them. A smaller, engaged list gets better results than a large, sleepy one. (Judge this by clicks and purchases, not opens — the metrics guide explains why.)
6. Make leaving easy
A visible unsubscribe link costs you a subscriber; a hidden one costs you a spam complaint, which does far more damage. Put it in every email, and consider offering "email me less often" as well as "unsubscribe".
How to tell if you have a problem
Watch for a rising bounce rate, more spam complaints, or a sudden drop in clicks across every campaign at once. Google Postmaster Tools, which is free, shows your spam complaint rate and domain reputation for Gmail.
Think your emails are landing in spam? Book a strategy call and we'll look at your setup with you.
